From U.S. Pat. No. 5,647,129 there is known a retractable handhold tool in the form of a knife having a long narrow, edge-provided blade which, is retractable or foldable into a handle. In a working position, the handle extends in a linear extension of the blade and includes front and rear shell-like halves that are pivoted together.
The halves can be pivoted together to form a grippable handle, or the rear shell can be swung rearwardly by 180.degree. to enable the blade to be swung into gaps formed by the respective shells. In this case, however, the two handle halves are so provided that the edge portions on the two side walls defining a central gap in each half, are abutted against each other in the working position of the handle, whereby the handle is somewhat thick and thus more difficult to tightly grip. Furthermore, when the blade is in its retracted or stored state, the cutting edge is completely concealed, whereby a user cannot tell what type of tool is being purchased, e.g. a straight edge or a serrated edge.